Air Canada, Alaska Airlines extend elite status

Two more airlines announced elite status extensions this week, waiving the qualification requirements for the 2020 calendar year. Air Canada‘s Altitude and Alaska Airlines‘ MileagePlan members have another year at their existing tier without any additional flying required. And, similar to the moves announced by Delta and United over the weekend, there are a couple unique quirks from each program in how it will work.

Loyalty is a two-way street – certainly in good times, but especially so in hard times. Altitude members have shown outstanding commitment to Air Canada, and to provide some certainty during these uncertain times, we are extending members’ current Altitude status to the end of 2021.

– Mark Nasr, Vice President, Loyalty and eCommerce at Air Canada

Air Canada extends to family & friends

All Air Canada Altitude program status for 2020 will automatically be extended through to the end of 2021. While that could be seen by some members as an opportunity to “shop around” if travel returns later this year the carrier has a plan to discourage such dalliances. Members that requalify in 2020 can gift whatever status tier they reach to a family member or friend. In this way even flying a limited portion of that member’s normal volume with Air Canada delivers extra value. And, as a bonus, the newly minted elite member is also more likely to shift spend to Air Canada in 2021. This is a smart promotion looking to the future.

Air Canada is also waiving all cancellation fees on existing awards through 30 April 2020, giving members an opportunity to unwind existing plans without penalty, regardless of the booked travel dates.

Regarding the mileage expiration policy, the Aeroplan program is suspending such efforts through 14 May 2020 to give members an opportunity to conduct an eligible transaction. But unlike many other programs the company is not extending the expiry outright. This creates the potential for those suspended expirations to kick in on 15 May which is probably less time to sort things out than most members would appreciate.

The company is also planning a rollover, similar to Delta’s, but not quite as extensive. Any EQMs earned before the end of April 2020 will count towards earning in 2020 and also in 2021. Delta’s version will roll over all elite points from 2020.

Finally, for members that started a status match challenge in the past four months the carrier isn’t going to worry about whether the thresholds were reached or not. Anyone with a pending challenge is considered to have completed it and the status will be valid through 2021, just like all other elites. This is a reasonably large give from the program but also a smart one. Pushing away a customer that was trying to bring more business to the carrier would be a terrible mistake at this point.

About Seth Miller

Seth Miller has over a decade of experience covering the airline industry. With a strong focus on passenger experience, Seth also has deep knowledge of inflight connectivity and loyalty programs. He is widely respected as an unbiased commentator on the aviation industry.

He is frequently consulted on innovations in passenger experience by airlines and technology providers.